Highly Sensitive Gelatin-Based Eutectogel for Unmanned Car Control

Gelatin-based gels are attractive for flexible sensing because of their reshapeability and potential sustainability. However, their practical use is still limited by weak mechanical robustness and an insufficient strain sensitivity. Here, a highly sensitive and reshaped gelatin-based eutectogel was developed by combining urchin-like conductive particles with a DES exchange strategy. Sodium caseinate (SC)-MWCNT@liquid metal (LM) particles were introduced as multiscale conductive units. The deep eutectic solvent (DES) exchange process reconstructed the gel network by promoting polymer chain entanglement and facilitating gelatin triple-helix formation. As a result, the optimized GSML eutectogel achieved a tensile strength of 3.71 MPa, an elongation at break of 381.66%, and a gauge factor (GF) of 7.6 ( R 2 = 0.98). It maintained stable sensing signals over 1000 stretching cycles at a 100% strain. Moreover, the GSML could be rapidly reshaped through simple thermal reprocessing. The retention of triple-helix structures during reshaping allowed the eutectogel to maintain good mechanical strength. As a proof of concept, the GSML sensor was integrated into a single-handed control glove for unmanned car control, achieving an average recognition accuracy of 94.75%. This work provides a strategy for designing highly sensitive and reshaped gelatin-based eutectogels for human–machine interaction applications.